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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 5221 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

The bill repeals the Litter Act 1977 and replaces it with a modern act that reflects contemporary litter control legislation. Its not uncommon for an issue such as litter to be mistakenly-Mr Cornwell will agree with me-dismissed as trivial. In this chamber, where we debate legislation and issues which involve fundamental questions of ethical or legal principle, the apparently more mundane matters which come before us might, at first blush, seem less important. However, it is often those ordinary issues which can have an impact on a significant proportion of the community and about which many in the community, therefore, have a view or concern. Litter is a classic example of this.

Litter impacts on all of us, whether we come across it as we use public and recreational areas or see it on the roadside-where it has obviously been thrown or has blown from the back of someone's trailer. Of course, it is removed as part of the maintenance of roads and public assets. However, it is simply not possible to maintain a 100 per cent litter-free environment, because, regrettably, some in our community continue to dispose of all manner of items in a way which shows little regard for the use of public places by others.

In fact, it is disturbing to learn, based on research conducted by Clean Up Australia, that littering behaviour in the ACT shows no sign of any reduction. The research indicates that: the average number of items collected per site in the ACT on Clean Up Australia Day has not decreased over time, suggesting that people in the ACT are not changing their littering habits; the most littered site categories are rivers and creeks, followed by schools and roadways; and there is a greater likelihood of seeing people littering in Canberra than in Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, or Sydney.

In recent years New South Wales and Victoria have amended their littering legislation to include more effective anti-litter provisions. The ACT's Litter Act is almost 30 years old and the time has come to bring it more into line with modern litter control legislation elsewhere. This bill will achieve that objective.

For the Assembly's benefit I will provide a brief outline of the key reforms. An important change to the act is a provision enabling litter that escapes from private to public land to be addressed. At present a litter offence only occurs where litter is deposited on a public place. However, waste that blows or is washed from private land onto public land is a significant source of litter in the territory. In particular, the escape of waste from building sites generates considerable litter. The act will now impose an obligation upon individuals to dispose of litter in a way that prevents its escape onto public land.

Another significant environmental waste issue is the abandonment of vehicles and vehicle parts. The new act will make it clear that littering offences apply to such items, as well as to construction or demolition waste material. A further, important, change is that the definition of a "public place"will be expanded. Under the existing legislation a public place is, essentially, unleased territory land, roads and road-related areas. However, there are many leased areas to which members of the public have access, where litter offences can interfere with public enjoyment of those places. Therefore, litter offences will now apply in relation to any place to which members of the public have access.

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